Sunday Gazette-Mail from Charleston, West Virginia · Page 131

Page 131 article text (OCR)

Senators
who
married
wealth
Philip
Han
(Mich.)
and
former
lane
Cameron
Brfggs.
Barry
Co/dwater
(Mz.)
and
former
Margaret
/ohnson.
Richard
Stone
(Fla.)
and
former
Mar/ene
l^r^r
hkU.
WASHINGTON,
D.C.
H
ow
rich
are
the
two
U.S.
Senators
from
your
state?
Do
you
know?
Do
you
care?
Does
it
make
any
difference
to
you
whether
or
not
they
are
millionaires?
Do
these
men
vote
their
pocketbooks?
Do
they
represent
special
interests?
Are
they
torn
by
a
conflict
of
interest?
Is
it
possible
for
a
poor
man
to
be
elected
to
the
U.S.
Senate?
Does
a
wealthy
incumbent
who
can
finance
his
own
reelection
campaign
enjoy
an
unfair
advantage
over
a
poor
challenger?
Are
the
wealthy
less
immune
to
the
blandishments
and
contributions
of
the
lobbyists
than
those
who
are
not
wealthy?
What
effect
does
a
Senator's
wealth
have
on
the
electoral
process?
Earlier.this
year,
the
Supreme
Court
ruled
that
a
candidate
for
a
Seriate
seat
(or
any
other
federal
office)
may
spend
by
Lloyd
Shearer
an
unlimited
amount
of
personal
money
in
a
campaign--although
contributions
from
all
other
donors
remain
restricted
by
law.
As
a
result,
wealthy
contenders
probably
will
spend
hundreds
of
thousands
of
dollars
of
their
families'
money
to
gain
election
or
reelection
to
the
Senate
this
year.
Races
for
millionaires
Several
years
ago
Congressman
Torbert
H.
MacDonald,
a
Democrat
of
Massachusetts,
declared:
"In
the
nation's
seven
largest
states
in
1970,11
of
the
15
major
Senatorial
candidates
were
millionaires.
The
four
who
were
not
lost
their
bids
for
election."
For
years
most
lawmakers
declined
to
disclose
the
status
of
their
personal
Â·wealth.
Many
considered
it
an
invasion
of
their
privacy.
Many
were
afraid
such
disclosures
would
affect
their
popu-
larity
adversely.
Many
were
fearful
that
such
disclosures
would
set
off
investigations
into
the
origins
of
their
wealth.
Last
year,
on
June
16,
1975,
Ralph
Nader's
Citizens
Action
Group
delivered
a
questionnaire
to
the
office
of
each
U.S.
Senator.
The
questionnaire
asked
for
the
Senator's
personal
net
worth,
that
of
his
spouse
and
minor
children,
and
his
future
interests,
to
be
estimated
within
five
broad
categories:
Are
you
worth
under
$50,000?
Are
you
worth
between
$50,000
to
$250,000?
Are
you
worth
between
$250,000
to
$500,000?
Are-you
worth
between
$500,000
to
$1
million
?
Are
you
worth
over
$1
million?
By
March,
1976,
after
numerous
follow-ups
by
phone
and
letter,
59
Senators
had
answered
the
Nader
questionnaire.
Â·
The
Nader
group
thereupon
made
"reasonable
estimates"
of
the
net
worth
of
an
additional
19
Senators,
"leaving
22
Senators
for
whom
no
reliable
information
was
available."
Under
Rule
44
of
the
Standing
Rules
of
the
Senate,
every
U.S.
Senator
must
file
a
detailed
report
with
the
Comptroller
General
of
the
US.
in
a
sealed
envelope
marked
"Confidential
Personal
Financial
Disclosure
of..."
This
envelope
contains
a
copy
of
the
Senator's
tax
returns,
his
assets
and
liabilities--in
short,
much
of
his
financial
worth.
But
these
envelopes
are
not
available
to
the
public.
They
are
kept
sealed
for
seven
years
and
can
be
opened
only
when
a
Senator
is
suspected
of
crookedness
and
the
Senate
Select
Committee
on
Standards
and
Conduct
votes
to
have
them
opened.
This
has
not
yet
happened.
The
data
compiled
by
the
Citizens
Action
Group
reveal
that
at
least
21
Senators
are
millionaires;
four
are
worth
between
half
a
million
to
a
million;
18
are
worth
between
$250,000
to
$500,000;
30
are
worth
between
$50,000
to
$250,000;
five
are
worth
under
$50,000;
and
22
are
listed
whose
net
worth
could
not
be
estimated.
A
list
of
the
wealthiest
The
wealthiest
men
in
the
U.S.
Senate
in
alphabetical
order
are:
HOWARD
IAKEt,50
(R.Jenn.).
Baker,
son-in-law
of
the
late
Sen.
Everett
Dirksen,
is
a
lawyer
with
extensive
interests
in
real
estate,
banking
and
mining.
His
assets,
according
to
his
press
secretary,
are
tied
up
in
"blind
trusts."